Remus/Sirius - friendship! 400 words
It was summer and my seventeenth birthday had come and gone. Obligingly, I'd had no word from him. James had been owling me daily, and Peter occasionally. I appreciated it greatly - I was almost always alone at home save Romulus, the owl Sirius gave me two years ago. I was lying on my bed talking to Rom the afternoon after the transformation when a knock came on the door. I moaned and stood shakily to answer it, but before I got out of my bedroom I heard it creak open.
Figuring it was Father but hoping it was James - he'd come before - I sat back on my bed. But then Sirius appeared in the door, taller than I remembered, and expression on his face of pleading and hurt as if I had already told him to get out.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep calm. Wolfish anger had leapt in my heart. The moon was not so far from full.
Sirius leaned against the doorframe, obviously trying to look casual and utterly failing. He bowed his head a moment, thinking of what to say, and then looked up at me.
He didn't have to say anything, because what I saw when he looked up spoke more than any words could. He was crying. Sirius Black was crying.
I stood from my bed but he stepped forward, pushing me back before I fell back myself. He sat down on the edge of my bed, wiping his eyes on the shoulder of his shirt, and brushed my hair back from my forehead as I shuddered. For a moment I wasn't sure why I was shaking so hard, and then I realized that I was crying, too. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again.
"'M sorry," he murmered. "It was full moon last night, and I forgot it."
"It's not like I was expecting you to turn up," I whispered. "Sirius, I -"
"Shut up, Moony," he said, and grinned weakly. "I don't know why I did it, and I don't know what I was thinking, but I do know I'm sorry I didn't come before. It was the biggest mistake I ever made." He laughed halfheartedly. "I probably would have died if it'd succeeded. I wouldn't've been able to live."
I shook my head and we embraced, brothers found again.
It was summer and my seventeenth birthday had come and gone. Obligingly, I'd had no word from him. James had been owling me daily, and Peter occasionally. I appreciated it greatly - I was almost always alone at home save Romulus, the owl Sirius gave me two years ago. I was lying on my bed talking to Rom the afternoon after the transformation when a knock came on the door. I moaned and stood shakily to answer it, but before I got out of my bedroom I heard it creak open.
Figuring it was Father but hoping it was James - he'd come before - I sat back on my bed. But then Sirius appeared in the door, taller than I remembered, and expression on his face of pleading and hurt as if I had already told him to get out.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep calm. Wolfish anger had leapt in my heart. The moon was not so far from full.
Sirius leaned against the doorframe, obviously trying to look casual and utterly failing. He bowed his head a moment, thinking of what to say, and then looked up at me.
He didn't have to say anything, because what I saw when he looked up spoke more than any words could. He was crying. Sirius Black was crying.
I stood from my bed but he stepped forward, pushing me back before I fell back myself. He sat down on the edge of my bed, wiping his eyes on the shoulder of his shirt, and brushed my hair back from my forehead as I shuddered. For a moment I wasn't sure why I was shaking so hard, and then I realized that I was crying, too. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again.
"'M sorry," he murmered. "It was full moon last night, and I forgot it."
"It's not like I was expecting you to turn up," I whispered. "Sirius, I -"
"Shut up, Moony," he said, and grinned weakly. "I don't know why I did it, and I don't know what I was thinking, but I do know I'm sorry I didn't come before. It was the biggest mistake I ever made." He laughed halfheartedly. "I probably would have died if it'd succeeded. I wouldn't've been able to live."
I shook my head and we embraced, brothers found again.